


A Shoulder to Lean On

by Daily



Series: A bond of family [24]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, And Friendship, And not afraid to show they care, Animagus, Chickens, Comfort, Comfort No Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Families of Choice, Family, Farmhouse of Love, Fluff, Friendship, Garth is a good friend, Garth is angry, Grown men have feelings too, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mentioned Harry Potter, New Beginnings, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Not entirely Remus friendly, Old Friends, Padfoot - Freeform, Past Child Abuse, Pettigrew escaped, Post-Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Sad Sirius Black, Sirius Black & James Potter Friendship, Sirius Black Needs a Hug, Sirius really needs that hug and gets it, Werewolves, letter to Harry, mentioned - Freeform, past/refered to attempted rape, taking care of each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:21:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24735349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daily/pseuds/Daily
Summary: Even the strongest of people sometimes needs a shoulder to lean on from someone who believes in them. Luckily for Sirius, Garth can do both.
Series: A bond of family [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/61511
Comments: 16
Kudos: 84





	A Shoulder to Lean On

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to my dear friend Kitty; for her endless patience and willingness to proof read and beta my stories. You are a marvel and one of the kindest people I know!

Walking out on the porch, he briefly raised his face to the still rising sun to soak up its warmth before continuing on his way to the hen house, mentally preparing himself for the noise onslaught sure to happen as it had for the past few weeks.

Stepping into the entrance, he huffed as he was proven right and that crazy chicken immediately started making a racket at the sight of him. “Every single day I come in here and every bloody time you go off like a bat out of hell. If you don’t shut the bloody hell up, I’ll be eating you next.”

Shooing her aside, he collected the eggs from the nests and placed them in his basket for safekeeping; freezing when the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly rose and magic he’d not felt for over a decade filled his senses and dropping his basket, he scrambled out of the hen house to come face to face with his visitor; breath catching as he drank in the sight of the one standing several feet away.

The kid, and even though he’d technically long since passed the stage of childhood he would always be a kid to him, was terrifyingly thin in the filthy robes he wore, his hair unfittingly long and tangled and even from this distance, he could see he was covered in cuts and bruises as he looked at him warily.

“Hello Garth,” even his voice was scratchy as if having gone unused for a long time. “You once said that if I was ever in trouble and needed to hide from the whole world, I should come to you and I know you pro…..”

“You better not be finishing that sentence the way I think you are, kid,” he managed to choke out through the lump that had formed in his throat and tears welled up in his eyes as he crossed the distance; only barely remembering in time to be mindful of his own strength as he pulled the kid into his arms. “You should know better than to question if you’re welcome here, you stupid, stupid boy.”

Sirius went rigid at his touch, but he ignored the tenseness as he held him close and a full body shudder seemed to go through his old friend before the kid all but melted into his embrace, pressing himself close as if he actually still was a child; and feeling the shaky breath that escaped him, Garth tightened his hold to keep him close.

“I’m so glad you are all right,” he murmured into the kid’s tangled hair.

“You….you don’t…..you’re not mad?”

Pulling back at the kid’s words, Garth choked.

“Mad?” His heart broke at the sight of painfully haunted wet eyes, mourning the innocence lost. “I’m livid and I’d like to beat up every imbecile involved with your rubbish trial.”

“My….you really don’t think I’m guilty?” Sirius’ eyes widened in surprise and Garth couldn’t help himself.

“Of course you are guilty of being a mutton head, you blockhead! Hell, you are probably the biggest fool I’ve ever come across if you ever thought I’d believe any of that rubbish.”

“Everyone else believes it.”

“As if you would ever even think of joining that monster, you’ve been fighting them for as long as I can remember and anyone believing it is clearly a moronic dimwit.”

A shaky breath escaped the kid at his words and something vulnerable crossed his entire posture. “They say I’ve betrayed James and his family and they’re not wrong.”

“That’s bull. Over my dead body and the bodies of every werewolf I know and actually like, and I’ll have you know there’s quite a few of those these days, would you ever betray your family.”

“How can you be so sure of that?” Sirius pressed even as new tears filled his eyes. “I’m the reason...”

“You’re not, the world would sooner burn than that you would ever let a single hair on James’ body be harmed in any way.”

“I….” As Sirius’ breath caught Garth didn’t hesitate to pull him close again despite the way his action made his friend tense again before relaxing.

It was worrisome how skittish his old friend was to mere touch, though he supposed it wasn’t too surprising the kid was touch-starved after twelve years of solitude in hell, so he softly rubbed his thumb over his shoulder-blade comfortingly. “And the idea of you wishing harm on the girl you call sister and the nephew you adore….only a plonker would ever even believe the mere suggestion.”

“Most of the world believes it, how can you be so sure you’re not the one misguided instead?”

“Then the whole world’s deranged,” scoffing Garth pulled back to cup the kid’s face in his hands, gently brushing away the tears. “I know you. You loved your family more than anything and would’ve done anything to protect them, even nearly dying to keep them safe on multiple occasions if I recall correctly. Anyone who even suggests you would ever be capable of bringing harm to any of them clearly doesn’t know you at all.”

“Remus believed it,” Sirius’ voice was so small it nearly broke Garth’s heart and he had to fight down the anger trying to overwhelm him as he knew his anger was not something the kid needed right now, not when he was so obviously in a bad place.

But oh how did he want to plummet the git into the ground and bury him there for ever believing Sirius could ever be guilty, how dare he call himself his friend if he thought the kid was capable of something like that.

“Then Remus is the biggest berk of all and it’s clear he’s never really known you at all.”

A strangled choke escaped Sirius as he pulled back. “You sound like Peeves. He was quite adamant about my innocence, too, and had quite a few choice words about those who believed in my guilt.”

“Then that ghost is a lot smarter than I ever gave him credit for,” he wasn’t quite sure why Sirius would’ve gone to Hogwarts when the whole world was looking for him, but he was relieved at least one of the kid’s old friends had any sense. “Guilty...as if, bunch of dimwits.”

“Are you really just trying to use as many variations of the word idiot as you can think of?” The kid’s lip trembled as he bit back a laugh and Garth relished in the tiny piece of familiarity on the near skeletal features.

“If the situation calls for me to do so then hell yes I am,” huffing, he brushed away the last of the tear tracks.

“Thank you,” having composed himself Sirius shifted, looking a little unsure so Garth nodded determinedly as he caught sight of the filthy clothes again.

“Let’s get you inside so you can freshen up and then we’ll talk, all right?”

“Is that your way of saying that I smell? Because I will have you know that I took a shower a little over two months ago and I took a dip into the water just yesterday,” the smile of Sirius’ lips grew, lightening his eyes.

“Yeah well, that dip didn’t really do much good,” snorting, Garth forced himself to turn away from his boy before freezing at the sight of a beast unlike anything he’d ever seen before only half a feet away and even as pushed Sirius back with him to safety, he couldn’t help but stare at what looked like half an eagle mistakenly having been placed on a horse’s body. “The hell….”

“That’s Buckbeak, he’s my friend,” Sirius moved around him to reach up to the hideous creature and pat its thick neck kindly. “Buckbeak, this is my friend Garth.”

“Your...the hell is he?”

“Buckbeak is a Hippogriff.”

“Right….and you sure he’s friendly?” the name rang a faint bell in his memory, but for the life of him he couldn’t recall anything about the creature as he fought with the instinct to pull the kid safely away from those sharp beak and claws.

But even as the creature stared at him and he eyed it warily in return, he watched that sharp looking beak come down to softly nip at Sirius’ shoulder almost lovingly.

“Friendly enough if he likes you. Safety protocol indicates you should bow to him while maintaining eye contact until he bows in return as a show of respect and never to insult them,” Sirius smiled up to the creature beside him, caressing its head and momentarily looking like the cheerful animal loving kid Garth remembered him to be. “But I’ve already warned him that you are a rude git incapable of refraining from insulting people and he has promised me he won’t take it personally if you do insult him unthinkingly.”

“Right,” taking the advice offered, Garth bowed low at a safe distance from the creature, making sure not to blink as he trusted his old friend to know what he was saying.

As he met semi-intelligent orange eyes, his senses immediately spoke to him of a proud yet protective soul and he instinctively knew the creature before him would do anything to protect his companion from harm and for that, the beast had his immediate respect and gratitude.

Within moments, the animal answered his bow before proudly rising again and taking Sirius’ nod, Garth moved to pass them both. “What does he eat?”

“He likes werewolf blood.”

Freezing momentarily before realising his chain was being pulled, he shot his old friend a glare. “Very funny.”

Choking out a laugh, Sirius reached up to caress the sharp beak. “To be honest, I’m not quite sure what he eats as we’ve only been together for about a week. I can’t really recall what we’ve learned about Hippogriffs, but I do know he is a carnivore as I’ve eaten more rodents these last few days than I care to acknowledge.”

Pulling his face as he knew just how terrible those things tasted, Garth ran a hand through his hair. “I’ve got some chicken for him if you can convince him to leave my livestock alone.”

“You barbarian!” Relishing in the barking laugh his words caused, he smiled even if he hadn’t quite realised his old friend had heard his grumbling before.

“Don’t give me ideas. I slaughtered an older chicken the day before yesterday for dinner tonight, he can have part of that one.”

“You keep it, he prefers to hunt for his own food. The only reason he’s not off yet is because he wanted to be sure I’d be safe.”

“Full moon was a week ago so I reckon he can go hunt safely as I’ll need time to fatten up your skinny bones to be eaten next month,” eyeing his old friend while wetting his lips hungrily, he snorted in laughter as Sirius only rolled his eyes before turning back to the hideous creature.

“Go hunt and have fun, I’ll be inside when you return.”

“My livestock?”

“He knows to leave them alone and even if he didn’t, the wards would keep him out.”

Humming in acknowledgement, he watched as huge wings unfolded to gently brush against Sirius’ side before the beast took off, flying in the most ridiculous way Garth had ever seen.

“I take it you’ve guided him through the wards?”

“I did, sorry,” Sirius’ eyes didn’t leave the disappearing form. “He wouldn’t let me enter alone without any form of protection and I knew he wouldn’t harm anyone.”

“It’s fine, I trust your judgement,” eyeing his old friend critically, he paused. “On second thought, before you go take a shower, would you prefer to get rid of that awful mane?”

“Mane?”

“That lengthy thing hanging from your head that most wizards would probably be proud to call hair, it’s got to weight at least ten pounds,” his words made the kid reach out to grab a fistful of hair as if he hadn’t even realised it was there, but all thoughts of making a joke drained from Garth as his eyes caught sight of shackle-shaped scars on thin wrists and he only barely managed to swallow back a gasp.

Suddenly it made sense why his old friend was so skittish and afraid of his touch and although he had never wanted to believe the rumours he had heard over the years about what was done to prisoners, his heart plummeted as he realised all of them were most likely true.

“Did….” Swallowing thickly, he forced himself to say the words. “Did they….. hurt you, like…..?”

Letting go of his hair, Sirius looked up to him momentarily confused before he seemed to realise what had been revealed. But instead of withdrawing, he huffed out a humourless laugh. “You really would get along with Peeves well.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“No, they didn’t. James once performed a protection ritual that keeps me safe as long as his blood flows through someone’s veins.”

Although relieved to hear the kid had been spared at least that, he couldn’t help but worry about the implications he just heard; wondering if he’d somehow missed something that terrible happening in the past. “And just why would James have felt the need to perform such a ritual in the first place?”

And now Sirius did withdraw into himself, tensing back as if he was going to strike him so taking a deep breath, Garth consciously opened his stance to come off as unthreatening.

“No harm is going to come to you while you’re under my care, kiddo. I just...did someone hurt you like that before?”

“No, I got away in time,” the open posture seemed to help relax Sirius a little but even though the words relieved Garth, he couldn’t help but feel his stomach drop at the knowledge he did miss him having being threatened once. “But James wanted to make sure no one would ever get the chance to even try again so he performed that ritual. Harry’s mere existence has been keeping me safe all these years.”

“Good….Merlin...that’s...okay,” running a hand through his hair, Garth wasn’t all too sure it was the child who was keeping Sirius safe if he remembered James’ proud proclamation of Sirius being his real brother now correctly, but he wasn’t about to ruin that illusion for his friend as it was clearly something that brought him comfort.

“I meant what I said, no one is going to harm you while you’re here, I’ll kill anyone who tries,” clearing his throat, he gently reached out to swirl a lock of long tangled hair around his finger, careful not to tug on it as Sirius startled at his approach. “What do you say about getting rid of this? You don’t have to if you actually like it, but I seem to recall you hated it whenever it got anywhere near your shoulders and figured I might cut it for you before the sheer volume of it will try to drown you in the shower.”

“Right...I’m not…. I’ve taken showers in the last few months but I….” Sirius’ expression had paled at his words and he cursed his thoughtlessness, but before he could consider a way out, the dark-haired lad closed his eyes to compose himself again. “I’d like to get rid of it.”

“Good, then I will grab a pair of scissors….or perhaps a hedge trimmer would be better,” his tease had the relieving desired effect to draw a smile out of him again. “Wait here so we can bury that thing immediately.”

“Won’t that hurt the ground?”

“On the contrary, human or animal hair is a great fertilizer. It is full of magnesium and nitrogen and helps crops grow stronger,” he shared as he grabbed his pair of scissors through the open window. “And it can be quite therapeutic, too.”

“Burying the past?” Came his soft voice as Sirius clearly remembered how Garth had all but demanded his young friend to cut his hair the day he’d taken residence at his cottage, wanting to have a fresh start as a new person and they had buried his cut-off hair in a nearly ritualistic way before planting a young tree over it.

That same tree still flourished despite the years having passed and he found himself nodding as he retrieved his chair from beside the house and placed it on the grass. “Yes, and we’ll plant a tree over it to signal a new growth.”

“All right,” Sirius lowered himself onto the chair. “What kind of tree?”

“I’ve been meaning to replant a cherry tree I’ve got from Michael,” placing a hand on his friend’s shoulder, he reached with his other hand to collet the thick tangled mess of dirty hair. “I’ll try to be gentle.”

“You, gentle?”

“Hush it, I can be gentle if I want to be,” he mock-grumbled, relishing in the way Sirius laughed at their once normal banter before the sound of nearby clucking made them both look down to see his dreadful chicken shuffle near their feet.

His stomach clenched in worry as Sirius immediately leaned down to reach for the stupid creature as visions of torn skin flashed through his mind, but before he could even think to chase her off, she flew up onto the kid’s forearm, her claws settled around his too thin forearm gently.

“Hell, would you mind finding a less skinny spot to rest on? You’re kind of heavy,” as if the crazy hen understood him, she immediately flapped to his lap to settle there, clucking contently as Sirius began to caress her.

“Stupid thing,” grumbling, Garth glared at the crazy chicken but seeing how Sirius relaxed further with each stroke, he left her be.

“What’s her name?”

“Food to be,” snorting at the offended glare shot his way, he shrugged. “I’ve never named any of the chicken as Becky told us never to name our food.”

“That’s...makes sense yet it’s also kind of sad,” his dark-haired companion returned to petting the animal on his lap, softly smiling and taking his calmness as a sign to start, Garth began cutting. “Why do you dislike her?”

“I don’t, she hates me and has been making a racket any time I’ve come by these last few weeks.”

“What is your grief with him?” His friend fell silent as the hen squeaked at him and it almost felt like they were having an actual conversation as Sirius hummed softly at her noise.

“You’ve ditched her?”

“What? No, why?”

“She says you’ve abandoned her for a new hen.”

Dropping his scissors, he stared down at the pair in disbelief. “What the hell? Abandoned her how?”

“You’ve taken another hen as a companion during your mad time and she’s mad about it,” Sirius’ eyes were soft as he gently petted the animal.

“You’re pulling my chain, right?” He wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that as although it was true he was taking a chicken with him every full moon for company; it wasn’t something Sirius could possibly know about unless he was actually conversing with the animal.

“No, why...oh,” wetting his lip as he seemed to realise what he’d said, the kid withdrew into himself, making the hen in his lap cluck up to him softly in what almost sounded like concern.

“You can understand chicken?”

“I...I’m an Animagus.”

“What? Since when?”

“Since I was fifteen.”

And if he didn’t know exactly why the kid had become one, he’d eat his shoe for real. Not that he was too surprised by this revelation as he knew Sirius was unpredictable at the best of times and if he knew animals were helpful to keep werewolves from turning on themselves then deciding to become one to help his friend would very much be something he’d do. 

“Of course you are. And yet, despite knowing what you’ve done for him, he still believed you to be capable of betraying those you care for?”

“In his defence, there’s been some things that I’ve taken the fall for that gave him reason to believe I’d be capable of that and technically I wasn’t the only one who became one to help him,” Sirius didn’t contradict his reasoning, but his words did fill Garth with understanding as the things he’d never been able to make sense of, finally did.

“So that’s how Peter managed to betray you.”

“What...how...” Sirius blinked. “How did you know Peter was the one to betray us?”

“I’ve got a few reliable sources in the Ministry who shared the so-called true story, but I’ve never quite known what had truly happened. But Peter being an Animagus explains pretty much every loose end I’ve never managed to put together.”

“What? How does it explain anything? How did you know Peter….”

“I know you, you silly boy,” tapping his fingers to his forehead, Garth began to put the pieces together properly. “You certainly never would’ve betrayed James so something had to be up and it wasn’t hard to realise that despite knowing you would sooner die than reveal their location, you would never take the risk of being the actual Secret-Keeper just as an extra precaution. Which meant that you would act as a decoy to protect the true Secret- Keeper from harm and seeing as it was Peter who supposedly went after you, I figured he had been the true Secret-Keeper.”

“How did you figure that out?” Sirius stared him in disbelief so Garth snorted.  
“Peter tracking you down was nearly as ridiculous a notion as you betraying them in the first place was. You’re the best tracker I know and there was no way he would’ve ever been able to track you down if you didn’t want to be found. So I knew it had to have been the other way around and the only reason you would ever hunt down your friend would be if he had betrayed your family. It really wasn’t that hard a leap to make.”

“I….”

Ignoring the thunderstruck look on his old friend’s face, Garth hummed in thought. “I figured he probably managed to get the better of you by using your grieving mind against you and was actually the one to blow up the street. The only thing that’s always stumped me is why all they ever found was his finger, because, what use would that have been?”

Rubbing a hand over his face, he turned back to his companion to see that same expression still on his face; as if it was that difficult to believe it had been easy to figure out what had happened by applying some basic common sense.

“But if he is an illegal Animagus, and I do assume you all are, then cutting off his finger would’ve acted as proof that he’d been there and he used the resulting chaos from his murder spree to transform and escape while you were arrested for his crimes.”

In any other occasion, the continued dumbfounded expression on Sirius’ face would’ve been absolutely priceless, but right now it only saddened Garth to realise no one else had clearly figured all of this out.

“What I don’t understand is, why didn’t any of this come out at your trial?”

“I didn’t have one,’ shaking the shock off, Sirius gave him an incredulous look. “They arrested me on sight, knocked me out and I woke up in Azkaban and well….you know the rest.”

“You were stuck in that hell for twelve years before escaping last year. Which I assume you managed to do because you’re an Animagus?” Seeing Sirius’ confirming nod, Garth ran a hand through his hair to have something to do while fighting back his rising anger. “Why didn’t anyone try to get you out?”

“Like I said, everyone believed in my guilt.”

“Surely there must have been some who believed in your innocence? Who knew you well enough to know it’s rubbish?” His heart clenched as Sirius looked away. “No one?”

“No one left capable of doing anything at least. Most of the people I was close with died in the war or became incapacitated in a different way and those left...”

“Are complete idiots or like me, unable to do anything for you. I went to the Ministry to try and get answers when I learned of what happened, even tried to get access to the transcripts of your phony trial; but they ignored me at every turn and in the end I couldn’t risk their attention turning to the pack,” it was something he had never forgiven himself for because he knew from the bottom of his heart that Sirius was innocent, yet he’d left him to rot in hell.

“To be honest, I never even considered that you didn’t believe in my guilt. I came here fully expecting to have to try and convince you to let me find shelter here. But I never….you believe me, you truly believe me.”

The look of incredulity in the kid’s eyes made Garth huff.

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know. Harry and Remus eventually believe me, but that was when I managed to corner Peter and actually show them the evidence of him being alive.”

“You’re going to have to tell me the full story over a nice cup of tea later as I don’t think I can quite handle it right now without wanting to slaughter Remus. I can’t blame the kid for believing what he’d been told as he would’ve been to young to remember you, but I can’t believe Remus actually believed any of that crap.”

“He did...”

“Yeah yeah, he had so called reasons to believe you’d be capable of that, fat load of bull,” waving Sirius’ goldfish expression off, he ran a hand through his hair again. “There’s no situation in existence in which you would ever betray one of your friends so either he believes a lie and he is even more stupid than I thought he was to believe it in the first place or he had no business ever having been your friend.”

“I….he believes a lie we told him to protect him, but as various sources saw the same lie taking place, he’s never had reason not to believe it.”

“You’re going to have to tell me that story, along with how Peter got away from you over that cup of tea,” rubbing his hand over his face again, Garth consciously took several deep breaths to rein in his rising temper.

“How did you know he got away?”

“Simple logic as I’ve not read a big announcement of your innocence in the papers and I doubt even the Ministry would’ve gotten away with covering up a story that big if you’d have presented the bastard to them.”

“I wouldn’t put it past them to try,” Sirius grumbled. “But it’s kind of a long story to explain what exactly happened.”

“So we’ll make it two or three cups of tea with at least some cookies because it’s almost painful to look at your skinny arse and I’m not much longer going to be able to hold out on the urge to fatten you up.”

“You made cookies?” His friend’s tone was so full of disbelief that Garth couldn’t help but laugh.

“No chance. I’m not touching that oven for anything but making dinner. Gertie brought some over the day before yesterday in exchange for some cheese and you’re in luck as there are also ginger cookies,” he picked up the scissors again from where he’d dropped them and snapped them threateningly. “But turn back around, pet your bloody chicken and let me finish this.”

Doing as he was told, Sirius brushed his fingers over the chicken’s back, smiling as she clucked in obvious contentment.

“So, an Animagus, huh?” Wetting his lips, he remembered a certain attribute his friend used to wear that now made a lot more sense. “What kind of dog are you?”

“A black Shepherd, the collar was a dead giveaway, wasn’t it?” Sirius chuckled.

“Pretty much now that I know, yeah,” he hesitated, unsure if he wanted to darken the mood again but his friend seemed to guess his question anyway.

“James was a red stag and Peter’s a brown rat.”

“Fitting,” And it truly was with what he knew about all three of them, especially Sirius and James as both were powerful yet protective and caring; always looking out for their loved ones and those less powerful than them.

And although he had never personally met Peter, he had heard enough about him over the years to know a rat fit him perfectly as he knew that contrary to popular belief, rats were clever, easily blended in with crowds and were very sneaky.

“Lily said the same thing once,” a sad smile crossed over Sirius’ lips and he seemed to become lost in memories for a long moment before shaking himself out of them again as the hen on his lap gently pecked at his fingers to request attention.

“I hadn’t realised I had the tendency to take the same chicken with me each month,” Garth admitted as he began cutting again, changing the subject to something lighter as the haunting in Sirius’ eyes intensified. “I usually just grab the first one coming towards me.”

“Apparently that’s been her for quite some time and now that you grabbed a different one twice, she feels passed,” taking the return to their previous subject without argument, Sirius caressed his chicken’s back again.

“All right, then I’ll be sure to take her along if she enjoys the wolf’s company so much,” gazing down at the content looking pair before him, he just knew that any plan of ever eating that one was now pretty much out of the window. “You should give her a name.”

“What? I thought you didn’t name your food.”

“Yeah well, it’s not bloody likely I’ll ever be able to bring myself to eating that one now, so choose a name for her.”

“All right, how about Clara.”

Instantly recognising the name’s source, he huffed. “I can’t believe you’re still naming my livestock after comic book characters.”

“It’s rather fitting though, isn’t it?” The mischievous twinkle lifted most of the haunted look for a moment as Sirius petted the chi-Clara.

“As fitting as Donald, Daisy, Clarabelle and Gus were, I suppose.”

“James named those, not me,” Sirius protested immediately, eyes lightening at the memory. “I only gave your mice and birds names.”

“Because it is utterly normal to be giving wild mice and birds Disney names,” rolling his eyes, he managed to cut off the last thick strand of tangled hair and ruffled his hand through the short locks left behind to try and see if there were any extremely long locks left hidden in the tangled mess.

“Well, you didn’t want any pets so we had to name wild ones.”

“The lot of you were mental, utterly and completely mental,” there was absolutely no need to admit to the kid that on particularly dark days, he would sit on the porch in the sun and spend hours naming the mice and birds scurrying around just to feel a little better; so he cleared his throat and stepped back. “I’ll straighten it out properly after you’ve showered and untangled this mess.”

“Thank you,” shaking his head, the absence of weight seemed to make Sirius seem lighter as well as he gently let down the chicken again to rise to his feet.

“Where do you want to bury it?”

“Near the apple tree, right now its been placed beside the hen house but they’re liable to eat all the cherries once they start growing and Becky’s warned me eating too many of them is bad for the buggers,” he eyed Sirius. “Think you can magic it to it’s new spot or do I need to dig?”

“I think so, I’m rather rusty but the practice would be good,” making his way towards the hen house with his new friend following him, Sirius examined the tree for a moment. “Shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Good,” collecting the large bundle of heavy hair, he made his way to the spot he wanted the tree to go. “Here should be fine.”

A soft thud made him look up to see his young cherry tree hovering a few centimetres in the air and coming his way with Sirius guiding it along so he stepped aside as the ground beside him began to crack and lift to form a hole large enough to safely plant the tree in.

“You know, sometimes this magic thing is quite handy,” once sand, dirt and ground stopped lifting, he dumped his bundle of hair inside and stepped back again so his companion could lower the small tree into it’s new home and cover the roots with ground again.

“Tempting you to give it a try?” Kneeling down to pat down the disturbed ground securely, Sirius smiled up to him.

“I use magic,” crossing his arms, Garth watched his friend work. “Sometimes….to wash underwear and socks.”

“That was information that I really could’ve lived without,” grimacing, Sirius rose to his feet again, now covered in even more dirt than before.

“And yet you now have it,” cheerfully patting his shoulder, he indicated to the house. “You remember where the bathroom is?”

Huffing, Sirius patted down his robes to get rid of most of the dirt. “I did get the hint the first time, you know?”

“Then why aren’t you in the shower, yet?”

“You’re as pushy as Peeves is.”

“Did you really just compare me to a murderous poltergeist?” Spluttering in disbelief Garth shooed the kid forward.

“I don’t think he’s ever actually murdered someone,” Sirius mused; picking up Garth’s basket he had apparently taken from the hen house where he had dropped it. “Maimed, sure, but killed?”

“And that really makes me feel better,” taking the basket filled with eggs from him, he peered inside to see all the eggs had surprisingly survived. “Go get clean up, you silly bugger. There’s towels in the cupboard and I’ll grab you some clean clothes so that we can burn the rubbish you’re wearing.”

“Yes, Mum,” Sirius either didn’t see or ignored Garth rolling his eyes as he indeed seemed to remember where the bathroom was as he walked there without hesitation, disappearing through the door and taking a deep breath to try not to envision exactly what shape the thin malnourished body would be in, he collected a bundle of clothing he was fairly sure would somewhat fit.

“I’m leaving you clothes just inside the door alongside a bottle of Dittany to treat those cuts with, is your skinny arse hidden away?” Figuring that was enough warning as the shower was already running, he pulled open the bathroom door just far enough to drop the bundle on the low cupboard and closed it again; relieved that the kid had at least enough sense to be using hot water.

Leaving him to his shower, he turned to his kitchen to put away the eggs, wash his hands and pull out the chicken he’d selected for dinner but hesitated as he was about to season it as he remembered the stories he’d heard of ex-prisoners being unable to handle food that was even remotely seasoned.

He had no idea if it would apply to the kid, but found himself unwilling to take the risk and decided he could always season it on his plate; so just dumped the whole thing in the oven so he’d only have to turn it on once it was time to start dinner and straightened to find that stupid chicken staring at him from the door opening.

“What? You want to join her?” Growling, he chased the chi-Clara off, debating with himself if it was really smart to be feeding Sirius chicken after the friend he’d just made but ultimately decided that it didn’t matter either way. If it would turn out the boy couldn’t stomach the idea, he still had several leftover meals in the freezer.

Humming to himself, he put on the kettle and hearing the shower turn off, retrieved the plate of cookies along with milk and honey, dropping it all on the table for easy access.

The kettle was just whistling when Sirius emerged from the bathroom, wearing trousers that were reasonably fitting under a long sleeved shirt that wasn’t too big and Garth eyed him critically before nodding approvingly as he saw most of his cuts were now treated. “I do hope you threw the rags you had on in the garage?”

“I’ve dumped them in that empty box for now. I’ll wash them later if I could hang them to dry on your rack, I’ll be able to put them back on when I leave again.”

“You must be out of your mind if you think for even one second that I’m going to let you leave anytime soon,” glancing at the uneven hair, he grabbed the scissors. “You are going to stay here for the unforeseen future to catch your breath, recover and gain some much needed weight as I’ve no doubt you’ve been running on fumes and sheer force of will since escaping.”

“I’ve actually spend most of the year at Hogwarts, being bullied into taking care of myself by Peeves and the House-Elves,” Sirius interjected.

“Fat lot of good that’s done, you’re still as thin as a rake,” shushing him before he could begin to protest, Garth continued. “Don’t even attempt to argue, you will be safe here for the time being. You said it yourself that no one unwanted can disturb us here, so this is the safest place you could be right now.”

“I wasn’t going to argue,” Sirius admitted softly. “I’ve been driving myself onward by the thought of catching Peter but now that he’s gotten away from me, I’m barely managing to get by.”

“You’re exhausted,” nodding in agreement, Garth watched the kid slump into the nearest chair.

“I am,” he confirmed, rubbing a hand over his face. “I can’t sleep or relax, knowing I’m being hunted at every turn and the thought of the Dementors closing in on me terrifies me. I came here because this place is hidden from the world, no one can even detect it so those things can’t find me here either. I...I’m so tired, Garth.”

“You’re running on empty with no way to regain either your strength or having a chance to heal from what you’ve gone through,” he squeezed his shoulders. “You will be safe here so take your time to heal and gather yourself. And maybe, while doing that, you will even let yourself grieve the family you’ve lost.”

A shaky breath escaped Sirius, tears sliding down his face as he shook his head and feeling his heart stop at the sight of the pure grief and pain in his oldest friend, Garth wasted no time to turn the chair around to pull the kid into his arms again.

“You have to forgive yourself for things out of your control before it breaks you,” he softly whispered into the damp hair. “What happened is not your fault and James would tell you the same thing, right after he is done berating you for even considering yourself to be guilty.”

The breathy laugh his words rewarded him with made Garth smile and squeezing Sirius’ shoulders, he pulled back to look at the kid. “Do you dare to claim otherwise?”

“No, James would be telling me I’m silly and stupid while Lily would kick my butt for even considering it.”

“There you have it then,” picking up the entire plate of cookies and placing it before him, Garth picked up the scissors again. “You’re to eat at least half a chocolate cookie right now, the other half may be a ginger one to go with your actual tea.”

“Pushy,” but he did pick up one of the smaller chocolate cookies, breaking it in half and nibbling on it while Garth evened his hair out and although it wouldn’t be the finest hair cut in history, at least it would be mostly even and he even amused himself with giving the kid a fringe as he used to have.

After he was done, he bullied Sirius into serving tea while he cleaned up before they sat down for that full story he just knew was going to test every bit of patience he had; and it did.

“Why didn’t you magic him to you with one of your fancy spells, though? I know your wandless magic is phenomenal.”

“I was a little busy keeping Moony from hurting the kids and when Harry called out to me to say Peter was escaping, it was already too late and the Dementors were on to me before I could even pick up his trail properly again,” sighing, Sirius leaned back in his chair. “And besides, I managed to force their wands to do my bidding, but the state of my magical core is to cry for and wandlessly I can only do the simplest of things. Even with another’s wand, I shouldn’t have nearly gotten bested by a thirteen year old.”

“If I remember the stories correctly, then you weren’t any older while keeping par with You-Know-Who once.”

“Maybe, but James and I had been training since first year. Harry….the level of his magic is terrible and he shouldn’t have stood a chance, it’s been pure dumb luck that’s kept him safe so far,” brushing a lock of damp hair out of his face, Sirius tapped his fingers onto the table. “But he nearly managed to get the upper hand on me, would have if Remus hadn’t arrived when he did and that’s not acceptable. I can’t protect him if my magic’s in an even worse state than his is.”

Humming in thought, Garth bit into another cookie. “Well, I haven’t got access to a wand for you, but there’s enough chores to do around here for you to train your wandless skills and bring your stamina back up to norm when you’re up to it.”

“I’d like that.”

“Are you going to contact your kid?”

“I had actually already hoped to be able to send him a letter to explain a few things and let him know I’m safe, but I haven’t actually been safe yet and I also haven’t been able to find any paper or parchment… crap,” cutting himself off Sirius dashed to the bathroom, but even as Garth marvelled at the sudden burst of speed, he hadn’t even managed to half rise out of his seat before the kid was back again, cupping his hands together.

“He’s been an absolute whirlwind since I found him but today of all days he’s decided to spend the day sleeping,” Sirius sat back down and to Garth’s utter surprise, deposited a truly tiny grey owl onto the table, where it happily started hopping around.

“You had an owl in your pocket?” Bemused, he watched the tiny thing hoot questionably at Sirius; making a beeline for his cookie as he did, but it was way too heavy for the small thing so he plopped backwards onto the table with a surprised hoot before flapping upright again. “Don’t think you’re gonna manage that, buddy.”

“No, I don’t have it yet,” pulling the cookie away from the owl as it hooted at him again, Sirius broke off a small piece and handed that over instead, making the little owl hoot in pure joy; almost tripping over himself in his haste to take it. “I found him being tossed around in the wind a few days ago so caught him and he’s not left my side ever since.”

“No owner?”

“He said that he was all alone so either he is older than I think he is or he’s been abandoned,” as the little owl launched itself into the air, Sirius caught him without even looking and upon placing him back onto the table, fed him another piece of cookie.

“It’s a scops owl, isn’t it?” Garth put some cold tea into an empty cup and pushed it closer to Sirius’ hand, the fluffy bundle immediately hopped to the liquid but stopped before it to turn his head to Sirius and hoot at him questionably. “Are you going to keep him?”

“Hell no, Buckbeak’s already having murderous thoughts after only four days, though he is a rather delightful companion. Yes, that’s for you.”

At his permission, the little one all but launched himself at the cup and for a moment neither of them moved as he immediately tipped it over onto himself and he disappeared underneath the cup with a surprised hoot before Garth howled in laughter while Sirius cocked his head at the scene.

“Really?” watching Sirius free the tennis ball sized owl drenched in tea, Garth’s howling only increased as the stupid thing hooted as Sirius in indignation while his dark-haired companion grabbed the tea towel and dropped the owl into it. “Stay.”

Slapping his hand on the table, Garth couldn’t stop laughing as his friend put the cup upright again and Vanishing the spilled tea before rubbing the little owl carefully dry. “I can see why Buckbeak would be driven crazy.”

“He is just a little overly enthusiastic.”

“Sure, that’s the problem,” wiping away his tears, Garth watched as the kid patiently dried the little owl and not for the first time it occurred to him that Sirius truly was too gentle for this world as he cared for the little owl like a mother caring for her young.

Eventually deeming the little hyperactive fluffball dry enough, he raised the owl to his face. “Will you be more careful now?”

The owl hooted at him happily, making Garth bite back a laugh as Sirius raised an eyebrow and the tiny thing hooted more sedately in response.

“Good, then let’s try that again, shall we?” Filling the cup with his own cold tea, he placed the little owl’s claws on the edge and as it grabbed hold, carefully let go of him so he sat securely on the edge of the cup. “If you take a little bit more care, you’ll be fine.”

“If you’re not going to keep him, then what do you plan to do with him?” Silently hoping he wasn’t planning to leave that thing with him, he refilled both of their cups with new tea while the little owl dipped back and forth with happy hoots to drink his own tea; uncannily resembling a speedy dippy bird.

“He’s looking for a human companion so I told him that if he were willing to deliver a letter for me, I knew of a boy whose companion was taken away and he seemed quite excited by the idea of replacing that companion.”

“Smart move, you can use him to deliver a letter to your boy and then leave him with the kid whose pet you kind of took away.”

“Exactly, though I’m not entirely sure how reliable he is,” eyeing the softly hooting owl, Sirius bit back a smile and fed it another piece of cookie in between dips, giving Garth the feeling that if given the choice, he would’ve actually liked to keep the little fluffball.

“Well, I’ve got some parchment for you if you’d like to send Harry a letter to tell him you’re safe. I’m sure he’s worried about you. There should be some parchment in the left drawer of the cupboard,” watching Sirius rise to his feet to retrieve it, he reached out to pull his pencil box towards him. “I haven’t got quills, but one of these should work well enough.”

“Thanks,” accepting the pen held out to him, Sirius hesitated above the paper; huffing out a laugh. “I don’t even know how to start. Would I be overstepping any boundaries if I were to address him as dear Harry, or should I be more cautious and just write his name?”

“He’s your nephew and your godson, I think it’s acceptable if you address him with dear,” it was adorable yet sad to watch Sirius fret over how to start the letter but taking his advice, the kid finally began to write.

“If he’s interested in keeping in touch, you could send him my old drop box so you can communicate freely without the risk of anything being intercepted,” he suggested, half reading along as Sirius wrote his letter. “Smart to be cautious about your whereabouts while at the same time assuring him you are in a safe place. But are you really going to let a Muggle catch sight of you?”

“Not while I’m here, but a decent time before the new school year starts so he won’t be bothered by security measures any more,” Sirius answered, penning further and Garth’s eyes widened.

“You got the kid a Firebolt? Is he that good a flyer?”

“He’s amazing,” pausing in his writing, Sirius looked up as the little owl flew onto his shoulder, hooting excitedly in his ear as it was clearly done drinking. “Yes, this is the letter and he is a Seeker for Gryffindor, youngest one in a century.”

The pride in his voice was unmistakable and chuckling, Garth nodded. “Who do you think is the better flyer, James or him?”

“I honestly don’t know, I’ve not seen Harry fly enough to form a proper opinion but I can tell you they are both utterly mental with their insane manoeuvres,” a small smile formed on Sirius’ lips. “James and Lily would be so proud of the person he’s become. I know I am as he’s a remarkable boy with a kind heart.”

He tapped his pen onto the table momentarily before scribbling further and while Sirius finished his letter, Garth grabbed an envelope for him to put it into, which he did before grabbing a second piece of parchment to scribble on there.

“He doesn’t have permission to go to Hogsmeade? Why the bloody hell wouldn’t he have permission, what kind of guardian is Remus?”

“None at all,” sighing, Sirius included the second letter in the envelope before closing it securely and immediately the little owl bounced from his shoulder to bob up and down in front of him in excitement at finally getting his letter. “Apparently Harry doesn’t live with Remus but with Lily’s sister and her husband.”

“I didn’t know Lily had a sister, you never mentioned her,” frowning, Garth scratched his head as Sirius fished the owl out of the air to place him on the table again, tapping the area before him to make the little thing give him his claw calmly so he could loosely tie the letter on. “Or did you?”

“Thanks. And Petunia is a terrible person and I wouldn’t be surprised if I never mentioned her as she mostly just made Lily cry. But anyway, both of the guardians I’d set up allowed Dumbledore to place Harry with her instead of with them and I’ve not quite managed to get to the bottom of that yet.”

Finishing, Sirius held out his hand and the little owl hopped onto it, nearly overbalancing with the letter attached to him but Sirius curled his fingers enough to secure the little one. “I’ve included the request to give you a home in the letter, so you be sure to deliver it to the person it’s meant for. Know who I mean?”

At the soft excited hoot, Sirius nodded. “All right, good trip.”

Tossing the little owl into the air, it hovered for a second before it flew off with the envelope that looked far too big for his small frame and they both watched him disappear, talking softly between them as they caught up.

Sirius told him all he knew about Harry while he quietly informed him of the lives he and the other werewolves lived in the community Sirius had set up a long time ago, telling him about the other werewolves who had built a home for themselves in their borders after signing the same security papers they once had. But the biggest delight he took was in the happiness Sirius expressed at the invention of the Wolfsbane potion.

“It doesn’t take away the pain, but at least it allows us to keep our minds when transformed so we don’t bite anyone,” handing over the list of ingredients he always kept in the kitchen drawer, he watched Sirius’ eyes skim over it. “It’s extremely lucky we can grow most of the more expensive ingredients here ourselves or we’d never have been able to afford it and we’ve been trying to spread it around among other trustworthy werewolves not among our borders.”

“I assume Bertie is brewing the actual potion?” Sirius asked as he read through the preparations of the potion. “If even a single step of this goes wrong, the results could be catastrophic.”

“We’re lucky that Beatrice’s nose was damaged and can actually brew it in the first place.”

“There’s that, too,” rolling up the parchment, Sirius hummed. “So I’ll need to find a way to combine any potion with the Wolfsbane so that werewolves will both be able to keep their mind even when they transform without any pain.”

“You...you’re still thinking about that?”

“Of course, some day I still hope to be able to keep my word.”

“I’d prefer it if you’d focus on getting free and healing first, you can do your magic afterwards,” ruffling his hair as he rose to his feet, Garth checked on the chicken before returning the parchment back to their usual spot.

“I have no idea if ever being free is still even on the table now that Peter’s gotten away, waiting for that might be useless and although I won’t be able to actually experiment with potions I can still do maths and think of various combinations until the time comes I can get to a cauldron.”

“You are going to be free one day,” placing his hands on the kid’s shoulders, Garth made him look up to him, clenching his teeth when Sirius looked down instead of agreeing. “You are.”

“I’m happy at least one of us has some faith in that,” smiling sadly, Sirius rubbed his arms. “I’m already happy enough that Harry knows the truth, that’s enough for me for now and I have to focus on protecting him.”

“Protecting him from?”

“The war that’s brewing on the horizon,” haunted grey eyes met his own. “I think we both know that it’s not over, not really.”

Coldness washed over Garth at Sirius’ words, having heard enough whispers in the shadows to know it was true. “Then you better start training so that you can protect your boy from the storm that’s coming.”

“I plan to do so.”

Nodding at the clear promise in those words, Garth just knew Sirius was going to work harder than ever before to regain his old strength and probably even surpass it and knew he would try to do everything in his power to help him do so.

By the time rumours of shadows rising in the south-east a little, over a month had passed and Sirius’ body and soul had been given a chance to somewhat recover and heal so although Garth would’ve preferred to keep him safely hidden away, he would never even attempt to keep him from trying to protect his loved ones; grateful to have been considered a safe haven to give his old friend some rest for a while.

And even if Sirius was putting himself into danger again now to both chase those rumours and investigate extremely dark magic he’d discovered through his communications with his godson, Garth wasn’t too worried as he knew Sirius could take care of himself and if anything, he pitied the idiots who would dare to stand in his way.


End file.
